Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Has $10.24 Million Stock Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 213.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,855 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 106,781 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned 0.13% of StepStone Group worth $10,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 967,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,207,000 after purchasing an additional 25,559 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,836,000 after purchasing an additional 160,318 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,859,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 523,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after buying an additional 138,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 623,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,748,000 after buying an additional 88,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore set a $73.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.86.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $47.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.87. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.07 and a one year high of $77.79. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.79 and a beta of 1.39.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 31.44% and a negative net margin of 30.66%.The firm had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -16.14%.

StepStone Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.